Facets
by whiteswan
Summary: As their relationship progresses, Beth realizes that there are many more sides of Aaron than she thought and wonders how they'll affect their relationship. Beth/Hotch for now with a smidge of Jotch. Rated for dirty thoughts and language.
1. Tall Dark and Handsome

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Criminal Minds. If I did, Will would never have shown up again after 'Jones' and Beth would not exist.

She'd first spotted him during an early morning run in the park near the museum; tall, dark and handsome with an ass she would gladly stare at all day. Unfortunately, her tried-and-true method of getting someone's attention, jogging ahead of him, didn't pan out as she'd hoped; he was either too focused on his run or not the type to hit on random women in the park. However, a carefully timed glance at his hand hadn't revealed a wedding ring, so she continued on and figured she'd get a shot on another day.

As luck would have it she saw him again a few days later in the parking lot of the FBI Academy when she was on her way to meet a friend for lunch. Over the meal, she learned that his name was Aaron Hotchner; head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit and according to office gossip, likely to be promoted to Director someday. Unfortunately, her friend couldn't tell her much more than that and that he was a widower; Sue had only transferred to the Academy's legal department a little over a year ago and while gossip ran rampant, factual information about the BAU team was hard to come by-apparently they weren't ones to gossip outside their group. A quick search online brought up a little more information-he'd been a successful federal prosecutor before joining the Bureau and was a nationally renowned profiler.

Over the next few weeks she would discover that he was a consummate gentleman as well. A carefully timed stumble during her run brought about his help and an introduction. She decided to take the initiative again, figuring that he'd appreciate a woman showing her interest openly and suggested that they train together for their respective events. Phone numbers were exchanged and a time agreed upon for a bike ride the following day. Unfortunately, he was called out of town and their ride was postponed for a few days, though promptly rescheduled upon his return. She saw him several times after that and slowly learned more about him; he had a young son, who he obviously adored, maintained a good relationship with his late-wife's sister and was close to his team. Also, he really was chivalrous to a fault, though that was discovered more through his actions than anything else: her various hints at getting together outside of their runs and bike rides were politely declined due to his schedule and the difficulty involved in keeping commitments and he seemed oblivious to her non-verbal cues at being interested in engaging in a different form of exercise with him. During their work-outs, they spoke of her work at the museum, his son and even a little about his team, though he never said more than a few vague words about whatever case they'd been working on at the time.

About three weeks after their first bike ride, she tried calling him to see if he wanted to accompany her to an event at the museum on the coming weekend but was chagrined to only reach his voicemail. When he finally got back into town, she found out that his phone had been damaged in an altercation with a suspect and he hadn't gotten a replacement yet. Too add to her disappointment, he also turned down the invite, saying that he'd already made plans with his son for the weekend. But never let it be said that Beth Clemmons gave up on getting a man she wanted; undaunted, she asked if there was someone she should call if she needed to reach him and couldn't get through. He seemed surprised at the question but gave her two numbers, stating that Rossi or JJ usually knew where he was when they were on a case. From previous conversations, and a Google search, she knew that the famous author was his best friend but he'd only mentioned JJ a couple of times in passing before. She already knew it was not easy to get more than general information regarding his team out of him, so she didn't question it further, just entered the numbers into her phone for future reference.


	2. Kittens and Surprises

Disclaimer: I still don't own Criminal Minds. Nor do I own the animal hospital mentioned in this chapter, though according to Google, it is a real location.

Beth was beginning to get frustrated and considered writing off all attempts to catch Aaron's interest on a more personal level but a couple of things were keeping her from doing so: one, he was a damn good looking man, she was extremely interested in seeing his impressive physique without his running clothes in the way and she wasn't quite ready to give up on that goal yet. Two, he'd asked her for a favor. It was about ten in the morning when she received the call that had her pulse picking up, as well as her hopes.

"Aaron, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?" _Coffee, dinner, me….?_

"Beth, I need to ask you something," he sounded distracted, which gave her pause, "I have to ask you for a favor."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I bought Jack a kitten a couple of weeks ago. Normally, it's not a problem leaving him at the house while I'm away but he's on medication this week and Jess is allergic to cats. I have to leave in half an hour. Would you be able to look after it for a few days for me?" She could hear him shuffling papers in the background, probably packing his briefcase for the trip; maybe this was the sign she was looking for and they could move forward when he got back.

"Of course Aaron, I don't mind. I'd be happy to look after the kitten for you."

"I really appreciate it. Jess will meet you at the house later so you can pick him up. Listen, I have to go, we're leaving for the airfield now. Thank you again!" He rattled off an address and his sister-in-law's number then hung up, obviously in a hurry to get to wherever they were needed this time.

It was admittedly a little awkward calling Jess and making arrangements to pick up the cat but thankfully Aaron had called her as well and explained that she was a friend and looking after the animal until he got back. Unfortunately, the kitten decided that it really didn't feel well and threw up that evening. While that was less than fun, it did give her an excuse to call Aaron but to her disappointment his phone went right to voicemail. Not wanting to stall in case the cat was really sick, she decided to call one of the alternate numbers he'd given her; hopefully he was nearby and could tell her which vet he used. Dialing the first number, she listened to it ring and was surprised when a woman answered the line.

"This is Agent Jareau."

"Umm, hi, is this JJ?" _JJ was a woman?_ Somehow, she'd expected JJ to be a guy.

"Yes, may I help you?"

"Yes, is Aaron there? This is his," _girlfriend, workout buddy?_ "friend Beth Clemmons, I'm taking care of Jack's kitten for him. He gave me your number in case I couldn't reach him."

"Oh, yes, he mentioned that. Hotch is out interviewing someone at the moment and must be out of range; the signal isn't that great here. I can give him a message and have him call you when he gets back."

"Thank you. I just need to know what vet he uses; the kitten is sick again."

"Oh, he uses the Aquia-Garrison Animal Hospital in Stafford. I'll have him give you a call when he gets back, though it might be a while."

"That's alright; I don't want to bother him if it isn't necessary. Thank you for the information."

"It was no trouble. Have a good evening; I hope Nuit feels better." She was polite but obviously in a hurry to get off the phone as someone called her name in the background. After a short farewell, they hung up and Beth was left to ponder why she hadn't known before today that Aaron had bought his son a kitten when his teammate obviously did, as well as its name and who the vet was. She knew he was close to his team but _she_ certainly didn't know who _her_ coworkers used as a vet. Putting it out of her mind she cleaned up the mess, called the vet and followed their advice for settling the kitten's stomach.

Once that was done, she settled in to watch the news and happened to catch the end of the press conference regarding the case Aaron was on. Seeing the blonde who was answering questions, she gave herself a mental slap on the forehead when she registered the name on the bottom of the screen; she'd seen Agent _Jennifer Jareau_ doing many a press conference on the news in the past, how had she not put that and the nickname 'JJ' together before now? She resolved to ask Aaron more about his team the next time she saw him, whenever that was.

As it was, he was out of town for a few days and when he returned, she'd brushed the question aside in her mind. When he offered to pay her for her trouble she refused though she did consider suggesting he take her to dinner. However, she didn't want to be turned down and he was obviously tired, so she decided against it for now.

As both Valentine's Day and their respective races approached, she began to consider outright asking him out for the holiday. A gentleman he may be but perhaps he was gun-shy and would appreciate her making the first move again. As it turned out, she didn't have to; after their last run before the triathlon, Aaron finally asked her to dinner for the coming Friday and she gladly accepted. He'd seemed almost adorably nervous about asking her, as if there'd been an actual chance that she'd turn him down. He'd been called out of town on another case later that day but she was grateful when he returned in time for their date. She'd been so happy that she'd decided not to take a chance on him misunderstanding her intentions and kissed him before they even got in the car. Once he'd recovered from the surprise and responded, she was more determined than ever to keep this going; the man was a hell of a good kisser!

Unfortunately, the end of the date did not go as she'd hoped. Yes, he was attentive during dinner and a gentleman as always. But while she had every intention of breaking the 'don't sleep with someone on the first date' rule, rationalizing that they'd been 'dating' in a sense for almost two months now, when they got back to her apartment, he walked her to the door, kissed her cheek and turned back down to walk to his car before she could draw the breath to invite him in for 'coffee.' Groaning, she let herself inside, watched him pull away once she'd shut the door and began planning as to how to knock his socks off for Valentine's Day. Much to her increasing chagrin, that too ended up being a bust as a case came up again; it was close by this time but one that required his attention long past a decent dinner hour on the holiday, though he did bring her roses. That was something at least but he looked so exhausted that she didn't even bother to invite him to stay, there was no way he'd be up for the activities she'd had planned for them.

Over the next week or so, they got together a couple of times for coffee in the morning, with Aaron, always the gentleman, insisting it was his treat each time. Three days before the triathlon, over his coffee and her 'tea tea' she asked him something that had been on her mind for a while now, "Aaron, won't you be upset if a case makes you miss the race?"

He shrugged the thought off, to her surprise, "If that happens, I suppose I'll just do the next one." Though she probably should have suspected that he'd long since gotten used to rescheduling events due to work, it did surprise her that he accepted the possibility so easily, especially for something he'd trained so hard for. She was glad though when he admitted that he'd like to see her after the race and have her meet his son. It boded well for them, since she knew how protective he was of Jack. This was a very promising step.


	3. Be Careful What You Wish For

Disclaimer: I swear on my CM DVDs to return CBS's toys in the same condition as they were when I borrowed them.

A/N: I have to thank Jekkah and whimsical-one for their encouragement with this story; I am in your debt ladies. Jekkah, I hope this improves your mood.

With Aaron fresh off of a short case and resting up for the race the next day, Beth decided to join her friend Sue at a local club the night before the triathlon, a new place that just recently opened downtown. Halfway through her second Cosmopolitan, her attention was drawn to a group of women coming through the door, laughing and drawing the attention of half the men in the room. She admitted they made a striking group: a blonde, a brunette and a redhead, dressed for dancing and obviously out for a girls' night. She allowed her eyes to follow them to the bar when she recognized the blonde from the news: it was Aaron's teammate, JJ. Which of course meant that the other two were probably Prentiss and Garcia; the redhead was just as flamboyant as Aaron had described her to be. Once they'd gotten their drinks, they just so happened to settle in at the table just behind her and Sue. Though she knew it was rude to eavesdrop, she couldn't resist the opportunity to learn more about the people Aaron worked with. So, with one ear and a portion of her attention on what Sue was drunkenly rambling about, she settled in to listen to the trio behind her.

Their talk about the samba class they'd just come from didn't interest her much, nor did the revelation that Garcia has placed a couple of 'nanny-cams' in JJ's house so they could see how Reid handled baby-sitting JJ's son, though the idea had the three women in hysterics for some reason. However, the mention of Reid soon led to talk of their other teammates, which definitely interested her. After some gushing from Garcia over Morgan's good looks and a bit of teasing for Prentiss about Rossi, it soon became apparent to Beth, even without looking at them, that the two women were doing their level best to get JJ roaring drunk. The reason for that soon became apparent when, seemingly out of nowhere the conversation turned to JJ's relationship, with Prentiss asking about her boyfriend's out-of-town trip over the past week. JJ scoffed at that and brushed her off, saying things were fine but even to Beth her tone wasn't exactly convincing. Her suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when Prentiss passed through her line of vision on her way to the bar for more shots and Garcia spoke up behind her.

"You know Peaches, you're going to have to tell them sometime. You can't hide the breakup forever. They're going to figure it out."

That brought a huff from JJ, "Damn profilers," which only made Garcia laugh.

"You're one yourself now Gumdrop, so give it up. What happened? All you've told even me is that you broke up. So, tell me everything now, all of the details, or do so after several triple shots of Cuervo. It's your choice."

"I'll take the Cuervo first. Can we please change the subject?"

Prentiss came back to the table followed by a waiter with a full tray just in time to hear her comment and replied, "It's your hangover. So if we're not talking about you and Will, what other good gossip is there to talk about?"

Garcia's next giggled comment caused Beth to stiffen, though she knew that none of the women knew what she looked like, "How about the Boss-man; any word on how that new relationship of his is going?"

Prentiss scoffed at that, "How would I know? He doesn't talk about her at work."

"What about you JJ? I know you spoke to her at least once. Give!"

A chair scraped across the floor as Prentiss apparently turned hard to glare at her friend, "You never told me that! Start talking Blondie!"

A groan and a thump followed; apparently JJ decided to try and ignore her friends by dropping her head to the table. When it became obvious that the effort was futile, Beth heard a glass clink and a groan, "Geez, I don't know much more than you two. I know they've been to dinner a couple of times and that Hotch asked her to take care of Jack's kitten for a few days when we were on a case. That's all."

"So why was she calling you?"

"Apparently Nuit got sick and she needed the vet's name. It was that case where we were out in the boondocks a couple of weeks ago. His phone was out of range and apparently Hotch gave her my number as an alternate in case she needed to reach him."

"Damn, I don't envy you. Why is it you always end up being the go-between? First Haley, now the girlfriend?"

Garcia's comment piqued Beth's curiosity; she knew Haley was the name of Aaron's late wife. JJ had been the one she'd contacted as well when she couldn't reach him? Why? Her answer came from JJ a moment later, "You know why Pen; I'm the one who always had to know where everyone was. It was part of my job. It was logical." Garcia's opinion of that response was an indelicate snort that had Prentiss laughing her head off before asking, "That still doesn't explain why you're the only one other than Rossi who knew for sure that he was dating. Or that you knew the vet's name for that matter."

"He told me." Now that was a surprise to Beth as well as the other two women, who demanded further explanation, "He told me a couple of weeks ago about Beth when we took the boys to the park. As for the cat, I'm the one they dragged to the shelter to pick it out with them. You wouldn't believe how hard it was convincing Henry that he couldn't have one too."

"And since when do you and Hotch take the boys to the park together Miss JJ? Or pet shopping for that matter?" Thank you Garcia; she'd like to know the answer to that as well.

"It started last year after I transferred; the boys always like playing together and I missed talking to him. We've been friends for a long time, you know that. And then it made for a convenient way to discuss your situation Em." The women fell silent for a few moments before JJ continued, "And now with Hotch covering Strauss's job and training for the triathlon, I occasionally take Jack on the weekends to give Jess a break. Henry and I met them at the park the other week and I took the boys to the zoo afterwards."

"Does that mean that he knows about Will as well?"

"Penelope!"

"JJ, what about Will? Start talking, now." Prentiss sounded ticked now and even though Beth was burning for more answers regarding Aaron's friendship with his coworker, she found herself morbidly drawn into the drama playing out behind her.

"We broke up, alright? We were having problems even before I went over to the DoD and coming back to the BAU was the last straw. I told you weeks ago that it was a long story Em. He's looking at apartments in D.C. this weekend; he's joined the DCPD and is moving closer to work. That's why I had to ask Spence to baby-sit. Will is taking Henry next weekend." There was a pause before Beth heard a glass thunk down on the tabletop; the blonde was quite obviously not happy about this turn in the conversation.

"Why didn't you tell us? I heard you tell Morgan that you two had plans for Valentine's the other week."

"Obviously, I lied. I didn't want everyone coddling me or giving me pitying looks. I'm doing fine; it was pretty much over for us before I transferred anyways. I was just trying to make it work out for Henry's sake."

"So who's taking Henry during cases?"

"Jess watches him for me during the day and Pen's been taking him at night when we're away." This brought another exclamation of outrage from the brunette, directed at the redhead this time.

"Penelope, you should have told me!"

"She swore me to secrecy!"

"Bullshit!" A pause, then, "Wait a minute, Jess is keeping him during the day? That means Hotch knew about it too! And you didn't tell me?"

"You've had enough going on Em. I didn't want to worry you." JJ's voice sounded slightly slurred now; apparently, the other two women's goal of getting their friend completely sloshed was nearly met, "Can we please drop it now? We're supposed to meet the guys at the finish line tomorrow and I really want to just enjoy this evening. Please?"

"Sure Peaches, we'll leave it alone…for now." The three women were quiet for several minutes, before moving on to more mundane topics. The change in conversation let Beth refocus on her own companion and she realized that Sue had pretty much passed out at the table. Deciding to leave, she finished her drink and roused her friend enough to call a cab to get them home. She'd learned a lot more about Aaron and his team tonight, but she wasn't sure that she liked what she'd learned. Maybe that old phrase about eavesdropping was true after all…you never heard anything good when you did it.


	4. Triathlon

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Darn it.

The next morning seemed to come earlier than usual and with it a new resolve. She knew she was going to meet Jack today and while she was nervous, she reminded herself that this was an important step. Yes, his coworkers had known Aaron far longer than she had and yes, they were closer than she'd thought, but he was letting her meet his son; that had to be a good sign. Her new goal, besides finally getting Aaron Hotchner into her bed, was to get him to tell her the things about himself that his team obviously already knew, if not more. Surely, if he could talk to a coworker, he could talk to his girlfriend. With that in mind, she got ready for the day, taking care to look as nice as possible without going overboard for an extremely casual event.

When she arrived at the park where the race was to end, she easily spotted the BAU team at the edge of the finish line; if the little boy holding the sign for Aaron hadn't given them away she still would have easily recognized the three women from the night before, all of whom looked rather miserable in the bright sun. Obviously they'd had a long night. She loitered behind them discreetly for a few minutes and listened as the tall skinny man, Reid she figured, complained good-naturedly about having been left with Henry all night. Henry was presumably the little boy currently asleep in a stroller, while David Rossi held Aaron's son on his shoulders, and a dark-skinned man spoke to the boy good-naturedly. 'Uncle Derek' and 'Uncle Dave,' as Jack termed them, seemed to be having great fun tormenting the three hung-over women, who alternately scolded them and groaned at them to shut up. She moved away from the group as the runners approached the finish line; she couldn't wait to see Aaron and congratulate him.

While he didn't finish first, he was definitely one of the fastest. In the few minutes it took her to spot and reach him, she saw that he'd already met up with his team and was talking to his son. She called his name and was glad to see that he spotted her and immediately led Jack over.

"Jack, I'd like you to meet my friend Beth."

Ok, she could understand being introduced as a friend, rather than a girlfriend, it was easier for Jack that way. She complimented his sign and smiled when he thanked her politely; he really was a cutie. She was about to ask them both to breakfast when she was preempted by Aaron asking her to join them…and the team. Apparently in the few minutes before she met him, they'd already made plans as a group. Oh well, it would be a good chance to get to know them and see Aaron with them. Maybe then he'd open up to her more.

With two little kids in the group, it was no real surprise that they ended up at a nearby IHOP. She tried to take the opportunity to talk to Jack a little more but while he was polite, he was clearly more interested in playing with Henry, who'd woken up amongst the racket. The two boys colored on the children's menus and chattered with each other a mile a minute. She'd somehow ended up between Aaron and David Rossi, who was looking rather satisfied with himself and smirking at his friend periodically. And while the entire team was polite and friendly, going out of their way to include her in the conversation whenever possible, she couldn't help but feel like a bit of a fifth wheel. Aaron kept his attention on her for the most part, when he wasn't focusing on his son, but Jack seemed completely disinclined to talk to her beyond their initial conversation. If he wasn't coloring or talking to Henry he was chattering at his 'Aunt JJ,' who seemed to be feeling better, about everything under the sun. JJ made polite conversation as much as possible in between dealing with the boys, telling Morgan to stop picking on Reid and shooting glares at Rossi for being a smart ass. The others were a little too far down the table to make conversation easy once they'd sat down, though there were plenty of curious looks thrown her way. All in all, she was rather grateful when the meal was over.

When she arrived home with several hours to kill before her dinner with Aaron and Jack later that evening, she sat down to do some thinking. While Jack's initial reaction to her was a bit discouraging, she had hopes of changing that soon; getting him to like her was essential if she had any hope of continuing to see Aaron. Jack was his world and she knew he would end things with her if his son was unhappy. However, she was confident that she could get him to talk to her more when the others weren't around. Aaron's team was certainly unique but she'd gotten to know boyfriend's coworkers before, she could do it again. His schedule, while hectic, could be manageable. From the way he kissed, she knew the sex would be great. Yeah, it was worth the effort.


	5. It's Over

Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds.

Several weeks later, Beth was rethinking her goals with Aaron once again. His schedule, much to her dismay, was as hectic as ever. She still hadn't gotten him into bed; when she'd finally brought it up to him bluntly, he told her that although she was lovely and he was attracted to her, he was not prepared to take that step with anyone until he knew the relationship was serious. And for Jack's sake, if nothing else, they weren't at that point yet. Yes, they had fun on their dates and he was always a gentleman. But to her dismay, Jack was not warming up to her at all. Oh he was polite and friendly, but he didn't respond to her overtures to get closer to him. Often, she would catch him watching her with a look in his eyes that she was sure his father used on suspects, one that seemed to be searching for and reading her every thought and secret. It was rather unnerving.

And all in all, Aaron still wasn't opening up to her very much either, not as she'd hoped he would. He wouldn't talk about cases, so that pretty much eliminated talking about his work, other than the occasional story about some mishap in the office. The few times she'd tried to bring up Haley, he closed up tighter than a drum; and obviously that was as subject that was never brought up around Jack. He didn't seem to have any friends outside of his team and other than Rossi; she wasn't really comfortable talking about them. They certainly managed to intrude on her time with him though.

The group outings weren't so bad; except for the fact that Aaron seemed far more relaxed at those than when he was alone with her. She wanted him to be that way with her alone. But the interruptions when it was just the two of them….those were just plain aggravating….

First there was the time that he had to talk Morgan down over the phone top keep him from going after someone named Lynch; apparently this Lynch had gotten into an argument with Garcia and hurt her feelings, which had Morgan on the war-path. Obviously, someone was very protective.

Then there was the time that Garcia herself called in hysterics, after breaking up with her boyfriend after another fight. Beth was rather surprised at that one; she'd _never_ call her own boss about a breakup. However, Hotch calmed her down, promised not to tell Morgan about the fight, and then called JJ to go comfort his technical analyst. While that call didn't take long and she heard his 'boss man' tone for the first time during the conversation as he talked the redhead back into a state of relative calm, she was rather annoyed with the interruption to their evening.

Rossi was the least troublesome one during their times together; the man seemed almost pathologically devoted to keeping out of his friend's way when he knew they had a date, even baby-sitting for Jack a few times. She liked him a lot for that.

But shortly after the Garcia incident came a phone call from Reid that had Hotch bolting from the coffee shop at full speed, telling the young man that he was on his way and calling JJ to meet him there. She never got details on that one out of him, other than that Reid was having trouble coping after a tough case. Rossi and Jess had ended up watching both Henry and Jack between them for a couple of days after that though. That one hurt, not only because he left with nothing more than a quick apology and wouldn't tell her what was wrong, but also because it never seemed to cross his mind to ask _her_ to watch Jack. They'd been dating for two months!

The last straw was the call from Prentiss saying that JJ's ex had come over to her house, totally drunk, when the girls were there with Henry and picked a fight with JJ. Once again, Aaron wouldn't give her any details but JJ and Henry did end up ensconced in Aaron's guest room for a couple of days afterwards. She also overheard JJ scolding Aaron for being overprotective-apparently the men of the unit had given her ex a talking-to (that was his term for it; JJ called it threatening him) and told him to stay the hell away from her and her son if he couldn't keep himself sober. Aaron had simply said that they were looking out for her and the disagreement seemed to end in a stalemate.

She however had had enough. She liked Aaron, she really did. But between his reluctance to take their relationship to the next level and the fact that he constantly seemed to drop everything for his team, she was sick of it; cases were one thing, but this after-hours interaction was ridiculous! When she confronted him, he reminded her that he'd told her before that his team weren't just co-workers, they were his family; when they needed him he was there for them. And she had to admit, their interruptions weren't constant; they were just often enough that they got on her nerves!

In the end, she decided to issue an ultimatum: either take their relationship to the next level or end it completely. She really hoped that her decree would push him to act. Unfortunately, it did…just not the way she wanted him to. Faced with the choice, he calmly stated that if that were the case, then they shouldn't see each other anymore.

That wasn't supposed to happen!

A few months later, she saw him again, in the same park where they'd first met. He was playing Frisbee with Morgan, Jack and Henry; Rossi and Reid were nearby playing Bocce, while the women sat on a blanket heckling both groups of players. As she watched, the two little boys tackled Aaron in an attempt to get the toy back and the rare sound of his laughter reached her across the stretch of grass between them.

Watching them, she finally realized that they really were a family, an unconventional one but a family just the same. It had been unfair of her to try and make him choose between them. Had she taken the time to really think about it, and their interactions without the distortion of her own aggravation in the way, she would have realized sooner that that was a choice that she could only have come out on the losing side of.


End file.
